The substantial reduction in anchovy catch has led the National Fisheries Society (SNP) to request an 'urgent action' to allow fishing from mile 5, where the resource is located.

The exceptional request is due to the fact that the Supreme Decree Nº 005 of the Ministry of Production (PRODUCE) provides that anchovy can only be caught for direct human consumption (DHC) within the first 10 miles from the sea.

"We need an emergency measure, and the decision that in the future it is possible to catch the species between the mile 5 and 10, where the anchovy is because, otherwise, the fishing activity will shrink," argued Elena Conterno, SNP president.

In her view, the low catch level of the pelagic resource has two main causes: sea warming and the existing regulations affecting fishing activity.

Conterno explained that as a result of the increased sea temperature, the anchovy has already moved away from the coast and moved southwards, reported the agency Andina.

Besides, she emphasized that to date only 625,980 tonnes of anchovy have been caught that is to say 25 per cent of the quota of 2.53 million tonnes set for the first fishing season this year.

SNP president predicted that in the eight and a half weeks remaining until the season closes it will be possible to capture more than 949,000 tonnes, which would complete about 62 per cent of the quota.

"Our projection is to reach at least 1.5 million metric tons of catch, which is much less than the quota, so the season will be fair," she said.

The SNP ensures the decree from PRODUCE has had a strong impact on fisheries in the southern region of the country. Proof of this would be that while in 2009 Peru and Chile fished the same, in 2013 Peru captured the third part of the volume recorded by Chilean fishermen.

Conterno stressed that the SNP has already told PRODUCE what the problem is like and requires quick action from the entity. The Ministry expressed they were awaiting the results of the studies carried out by Instituto del Mar del Peru (IMARPE) to make a decision.

In this regard, the President of IMARPE Council, Germán Vásquez, explained that if a greater presence of juvenile species was detected, it would not be advisable to fish from the mile 5. And even when a larger number of resources is found between the miles 10 and 5, if the number of juvenile specimens was large, "it would be a negative factor" for the SNP’s request.

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